Date: Saturday 12th April 2003

Timing: 11.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m.

Location: Marquee just north of Old Oak Community Centre, Braybrook Street

Activities:
Federation of City Farms show
Horse-drawn cart rides
Guided Walks
Kings Troop
Face painting
Parks constabulary
Awards ceremony (winning logo design by students from local school)

Timetable
11am Event opens
11.30am Refreshments served
12noon Official welcome & opening
Speaches & prizegiving
12.30pm Guided walks & tours start
2pm Event closes


Wormwood Scrubs Web site

English Nature Web site

Wormwood Scrubs is the first site within the borough to be granted Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status. LNRs are for both people and wildlife. They are places with wildlife or geological features that are of special interest locally, which give people special opportunities to study and learn about them or simply enjoy and have contact with nature.

There are over 600 LNRs in England today ranging from windswept coastal headlands, ancient woodlands and flower rich meadows to former inner city railways, long abandoned landfill sites and industrial areas. In total they cover over 29 000 ha, forming an impressive natural resource which makes an important contribution to England's biodiversity.

The award to Wormwood Scrubs - made by ammersmith & Fulham Council, on July last year, after assessment by English Nature - acknowledges the importance of the bio-diversity present on the scrubs.

Wormwood Scrubs Park is a large area of open space of 183 acres. It is designated as Metropolitan Open Land - 50% of which is designated as a nature conservation area. A variety of habitats exist within the park, including - semi-mature woodland, dry heath land, rough and amenity grassland, patches of tall herbs and a bramble/scrub corridor next to the railway track. All these habitats have some wildlife value but the wooded areas and the rough grassland within the common are the most important in terms of wildlife.

The site is predominately made up of a mix of woodland-plantation habitat types around the perimeter. It also includes a large wooded copse in the centre of the park and a densely covered embankment dominated with brambles and other woody perennials.

The oldest wooded plots were planted in the mid-80's. More trees were planted in 1990 as part of the British Rail mitigation process when Scrubs Wood was developed on.

It is an excellent site for bird watching and butterflies and has a small population of common lizards. The sense of space and openness of the park and reserve are rare in London. Consequently the environment is well used for sport and exercise, by dog walkers and even model aircraft enthusiasts.